Construction of Drawing Machine was begun in 2010 as an effort to create a mechanical device that had a built-in random element, so that when set in motion the ultimate results would be unpredictable. To this end, four linear actuators were employed to affect the path of the stylus. These actuators could be controlled by sensors or simply by random computer commands.

In the machine’s most resent incarnation, it has been programmed to run off the number sequence for ∏. A fifth actuator has also been added; this actuator lifts the stylus from the panel when activated. Each of the five actuators has been assigned two digits. The first one, 1 and 6; the second, 2 and 7, and so on. At any given time, two digits are in motion. In five minute intervals one digit is dropped, and another is picked up. Since the number sequence of ∏ never repeats itself, the patterns created by the machine are never the same from one panel to the next.